Introduction
A simulation of comet Encke's dust trail. The comet is located at the center of the image, the Sun and orbits of the planets are shown (see Gehrz et al. 2006).
A Spitzer Space Telescope image of comet 2P/Encke. The trail in this MIPS/24 μm image is marked with white lines (see Kelley et al. 2006 or our press release).
Comet dust trails are the collections of large (greater than 0.1 mm) particles that closely follow a comet's orbit like the boxcars of a freight train (although trails are not physically bound together). Dust trails are the youngest meteoroid streams, and when they intersect the orbit of a planet they can create meteor showers. Some asteroids have been dynamically linked to meteor showers. However, dust trails have only been observed around comets.
Below is a list of known comet trails.
Remotely Observed Dust Trails top
| (1) Sykes & Walker 1992 (2) Davies et al. 1997 (3) Reach et al. 2000 (4) Ishiguro et al. 2002 (5) Ishiguro et al. 2003 (6) Lowry et al. 2003 (7) Lowry & Weissman 2003 (8) Russel 1990 (9) Jones et al. 2003 (10) Stansberry et al. 2004 (11) Kraemer et al. 2005 (12) Nesvorny et al. 2006 (13) Kelley et al. 2006 (14) Vaubaillon & Reach 2010, AJ (15) Argawal et al. 2006 (16) Reach, Kelley, & Sykes 2007 (17) Kelley, Reach, & Lien 2007 (18) Ishiguro, et, al. 2007 (19) Ishiguro 2007 (20) Sarugaku et al. 2007 (21) Ishiguro et al. 2009 (22) Bauer et al. 2011 (23) Lisse et al. 2009 | ||||
| Comet / Asteroid | Space-based Detection | Ground-based Detection | Significant Non-detection | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2P/Encke | IRAS, ISO, Spitzer | KPNO 2.3m, Kiso 105cm, UH 88" | - | 1, 3, 6, 13, 18 |
| 4P/Faye | Spitzer | Kiso 105cm | - | 16, 20 |
| 7P/Pons-Winnecke | IRAS | - | - | 1 |
| 9P/Tempel | IRAS, Spitzer | - | - | 1, 16 |
| 10P/Tempel | IRAS, Spitzer | - | - | 1, 16 |
| 22P/Kopff | IRAS, ISO, MSX | Kiso 105cm, Palomar 200", CFHT | - | 1, 2, 4, 7, 11, 18 |
| 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann | IRAS, Spitzer | - | - | 1, 10, 12 |
| 32P/Comas Sola | Spitzer | - | - | 16 |
| 48P/Johnson | Spitzer | - | - | 16 |
| 56P/Slaughter-Burnham | Spitzer | - | - | 16 |
| 57P/du Toit-Neujmin-Delporte | - | Kiso 105cm | - | 21 |
| 62P/Tsuchinshan | Spitzer | - | - | 16 |
| 65P/Gunn | IRAS, Spitzer | - | - | 1, 16 |
| 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko | IRAS, Spitzer | MPG/ESO 2.2m, Kiso 105cm | - | 1, 15, 17, 19 |
| 69P/Taylor | Spitzer | - | - | 16 |
| 71P/Clark | Spitzer | - | - | 16 |
| 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 | Spitzer | - | - | 14 |
| 78P/Gehrels 2 | Spitzer | - | - | 16 |
| 81P/Wild 2 | - | Kiso 105cm | - | 7 |
| 88P/Howell | Spitzer | - | - | 16 |
| 103P/Hartley 2 | WISE, Spitzer | - | Spitzer | 22, 23, 16 |
| 108P/Ciffreo | Spitzer | - | - | 16 |
| 111P/Helin-Roman-Crockett | Spitzer | - | - | 16 |
| 120P/Mueller | Spitzer | - | - | 16 |
| 123P/West-Hartley | Spitzer | - | - | 16 |
| 122P/de Vico | Ulysses and Pioneer (indirectly) | - | - | 9 |
| 129P/Shoemaker-Levy | Spitzer | - | - | 16 |
| 131P/Mueller | Spitzer | - | - | 16 |
| 133P/Elst-Pizarro | Spitzer | - | - | 16 |
| P/2003 S2 (NEAT) | Spitzer | - | - | 16 |
| 2201 Oljato | Pioneer (indirectly) | - | - | 8 |
Dust Trails Inferred from Meteor Showers top
Thanks to Gary W. Kronk and his excellent web site, Comets & Meteor Showers, from which much of this list is derived (with additional help from the JPL Solar System Dynamics Group). Other references may exist and will be added as necessary.
| Comet / Asteroid | Related Meteor Shower | References |
|---|---|---|
| 1P/Halley | eta Aquarids, Orionids | - |
| 2P/Encke | Taurids | Whipple & Hamid 1950 |
| 7P/Pons-Winnecke | June Bootids | - |
| 8P/Tuttle | Ursids | - |
| 21P/Giacobini-Zinner | Draconids | - |
| 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup | pi Puppids | - |
| 55P/Tempel-Tuttle | Leonids | - |
| 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann | tau Herculids | - |
| 109P/Swift-Tuttle | Perseids | - |
| 114P/Wiseman-Skiff | martian Cepheids? | Selsis et al. 2005 |
| C/1854 L1 (Klinkerfues) | epsilon Eridanids | Vaubaillon & Jenniskens 2007 |
| C/1861 G1 (Thatcher) | Lyrid meteors | - |
| C/1964 N1 (Ikeya) | epsilon Geminids | - |
| C/1911 N1 (Kiess) | Aurigids | Jenniskens & Vaubaillon 2008 |
| C/1917 F1 (Mellish) | December Monocerotids | - |
| 3D/Biela | Andromedids | - |
| D/1819 W1 (Blanpain) & 2003 WY25 | Phoenicids | Jenniskens & Lyytinen 2005 |
| 3200 Phaethon | Geminids | Whipple 1983 |
| 2003 EH1 & possibly C/1490 Y1 | Quandrantids | Jenniskens 2004 |
To Do List top
- Cross reference the Meteor Data Center
- Add a meaningful list of comets without known trails.
- Discuss 3200 Phaethon and other asteroid-meteor shower links.
Revision History top
- 2012-02-17: Added 103P/Hartley 2 trail detections. Updated Vaubaillon & Reach 2006 to V&R 2010 (2006 was a DPS abstract).
- 2009-05-12: Updated comet Kiess reference to Jenniskens & Vaubaillon 2008; Added possible link between C/1854 L1 (Klinkerfues) and the epsilon Eridanids suggested by Vaubaillon & Jenniskens 2007.
- 2009-03-25: Added 57P ground-based detection by Ishiguro et al. 2009.
- 2008-02-06: Added links to Spitzer images from Reach, Kelley, & Sykes (2007).
- 2007-12-03: Added 4P/Faye ground-based detection by Sarugaku et al. (2007).
- 2007-09-30: Added a to do list.
- 2007-09-06: Added 67P detection by Ishiguro (2007); Added C/1911 N1 (Kiess) to the meteor shower list.
- 2007-08-02: Added ground-based detections from Ishiguro et al. (2007); author list corrections in trail table.
- 2007-04-18: Added the results from the Spitzer trail survey (Reach, Kelley, & Sykes 2007); corrected short-period comet names to use the official IAU comet naming scheme (i.e., using 81P/Wild instead of 81P/Wild 2); added Spitzer detection of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko's trail (Kelley, Reach, & Lien 2007).
- 2007-02-24: Added the Spitzer detection and image of comet 2P/Encke's trail (Kelley et al. 2006); added a reference to 2P/Encke's trail simulation (Gehrz et al. 2006); added the Spitzer detection of 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann's dust trail (Vaubaillon & Reach 2006); added the ground-based detection of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko's dust trail; removed 133P/Elst-Pizarro since the dust grains observed in Hseih et al. 2004 are not trail grains in the IRAS sense; fixed the link to Comets & Meteor Showers.
- 2006-09-06: Added new Spitzer detection of 29P/Schassmann-Wachmann trail (Nesvorny et al. 2006).
- 2006-02-12: Added MSX detection of 22P/Kopff trail (Kraemer et al. 2005).
- 2005-10-12: Added meteor stream references for 3200 Phaethon (Whipple 1983) and D/1819 W1 (Jenniskens & Lyytinen 2005); added Quadrantids and 2003 EH1 / C/1490 Y1 (Jenniskens 2004); added 114/Wiseman-Skiff and the possibility of the martian Cepheids (Selsis et al. 2005).
- 2005-09-13: Added 133P/Elst-Pizarro (Hsieh et al. 2004); updated the Encke trail simulation.
- 2005-06-12: Removed Reach et al. 2003 Palomar detection of 67P's trail; Added Stansberry et al. 2004 Spitzer detection of 29P's trail.
- 2005-02-17: Added D/1819 W1 (Blanpain) / 2003 WY25 and C/1964 N1 (Ikeya).
- 2005-01-05: Added 2P/Encke - Taurid meteor shower reference.
- 2004-07-13: Added a simple simulation of particles trailing comet 2P/Encke.
- 2004-02-06: Added 122P/de Vico and 2201 Oljato indirect trail detections from interplanetary magnetic field enhancements.
- 2004-02-05: 22P/Kopff reference added (Lowry & Weissman).
- 2004-01-18: A non-exhaustive list of meteor trails added.
- 2004-01-13: Creation date.
Questions / comments / corrections are appreciated. Contact .